A Utah woman is facing charges after allegedly setting her boyfriend and a vehicle on fire at a Midvale gas station.
According to KUTV, on Friday night, a 23-year-old woman named Ella Giselle Nelson and her boyfriend were seen having a heated argument at a gas station. During the dispute, surveillance footage captured Nelson dousing the man with a liquid and then igniting him using a lighter.
The Unified Police detailed in a probable cause statement, “Surveillance videos from the gas station show the victim running around with his clothes in flames.” The victim was rushed to a nearby hospital with burns so severe that he cannot currently give a statement.
The incident occurred at the 7-Eleven gas station situated at 210 W. 7200 South, with police arriving shortly after 11:00 a.m., as reported by Fox 13 Now. They interviewed witnesses whose testimonies corroborated what the surveillance video revealed.
Police noted that Nelson showed little regard for her boyfriend being on fire. A bystander eventually extinguished the flames on the victim and the nearby vehicle with a fire extinguisher.
In the arresting officer’s probable cause statement, they wrote, “Video shows the [suspect] made no attempts to help the victim once he was ablaze.”
According to Fox 13 Now, Nelson allegedly fled the scene. She was later located at a hotel where police used a K-9 unit to collect evidence. The dog detected fire accelerant in the hotel room and on the suspect’s clothes believed to have been worn during the incident.
Nelson was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail, facing two first-degree felony charges of attempted murder and aggravated arson.
According to KUTV, Nelson has been arrested in the past and convicted of burglary, providing false information to police, and retail theft.
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